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Lautaro Martinez was "happy and excited" after scoring a hat-trick for Argentina in an impressive friendly win over Mexico on Tuesday.

Martinez struck a first-half hat-trick in Texas as Lionel Scaloni's men ended Mexico's unbeaten record under Gerardo Martino with a 4-0 victory.

"You can't always score three goals," said the 22-year-old, who plays for Inter Milan. "I am emotional because I had to make a lot of sacrifices to be able to achieve this. Only my family knows about the sacrifices and hard work that led me to achieve all this.

Inter forward Martinez, who impressed at the Copa America earlier this year, dominated, producing three clinical finishes for his first international hat-trick.

Martinez, 22, was delighted with his performance as he moved onto nine goals for Argentina in 13 appearances.